Novel coronavirus disease (nCOVID_19)
is spreading all over the World rapidly. It can easily spread from person to
person if precautionary measures are not taken. But are the companion animals
like cats, ferrets, dogs, and ducks are equally susceptible? Can this disease
be transmitted by consuming chicken and poultry products? Can veterinarians
contract this disease from their patients? What are the recommendations for pet
owners to control the spread of novel coronavirus disease? This will be
discussed in the following paragraphs. This article is about the novel
coronavirus disease in pets, click here if you want to read about novel coronavirus symptoms and status in Pakistan
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| Novel Coronavirus disease in Pets and Poultry | Are pet owners and veterinarians at risk? |
nCOVID_19 is a new disease discovered
in China recently. The causative agent of this disease is a virus which belongs
to the family of viruses causing SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and
common cold. The novel coronavirus is a new strain of virus related to this family.
The disease has spread all over the world as a pandemic and transmits from
human to human rapidly. However, this disease is not limited to humans only. There
have been reports of pets getting infected from this disease in Belgium and
Hong Kong so far. We shall discuss the susceptibility of severity of the
disease in different animals one by one.
Coronavirus in cats
A recent study in China shows that
cats can get infected from new strain of coronavirus also known as novel
coronavirus. Cat, if experimentally infected with novel corona virus, will show
the disease symptoms. Not only this, cats can transmit this virus to other cats
if they are kept close to each other.
However, the exact mode of
transmission of novel coronavirus is not yet determined in cats whether it
spreads from feces, air or nasal secretions. Why do cats bite when you petthem? Petting induced aggression in cats
Coronavirus in ferrets
Ferrets are the most susceptible to
novel coronavirus among the pets which have been studied for this disease so
far. It may be something to not enjoy for the ferret keepers, but for scientists
and researchers it is of great important to use ferrets as experimental animals
for novel coronavirus vaccine trials in the future. Ferrets have been used as
model in SARS and common cold research in the past.
Coronavirus in Dogs
Veterinarians and pet owners will be
happy to know that the dogs are relatively very less susceptible to novel coronavirus
disease. Although two cases of dogs have been reported for nCOVID, there are no
cases of novel coronavirus spread from dogs to humans so far.
Novel coronavirus in Poultry, is it safe to eat broiler?
Pigs, chickens and ducks are not susceptible
to this virus. In a recent study, experimentally infected birds excreted the coronavirus
RNA in their feces instead of developing disease. This clearly backfires the propaganda
against commercial chicken (broiler) on social media specially in India and
Pakistan. It is the responsibility of veterinarians to spread awareness about
the safety of poultry and poultry products for human consumption. Poultrydiseases control by use of commonly available herbs and plant material
Guidelines and recommendations for pet
owners
Although
there is no evidence of novel coronavirus spread from animals like cat, dog,
ferret, chicken and ducks to humans, Centers
for Disease Control (CDC) in USA has recommended that people with coronavirus disease should
limit their contact with pets. They are recommended to avoid stroking them, being licked and sharing
food with them.
Author: Azeem Iqbal
DVM, UVAS
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